You know you’ve arrived when your manicurist comes to you.
Though today isn’t Lizzo’s first cuticle-tending session, it might be one of her more chaotic.
“I was at rehearsals, simultaneously getting my nails done, and y’all called,” she tellsEW.
Credit: Luke Gilford
One look at herunstoppable social media feedand you’ll see what she means.
But far from complaining, Lizzo is in her glory.
“I love this s. This is the s I was born to do.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
For those who have been following her career for the past six years, the attention is long overdue.
But even for listeners who weren’t day-one stans, Lizzo’s mainstream arrival seems like a no-brainer.
She’s also a hilarious, magnetic beacon of confidence, self-possessed far beyond her 30 years.
“It’s definitely the most fun and the most free record I’ve made,” she says.
“All the projects I’ve done before, it was like, ‘This is a good song.’
But you know what?
I started to embrace how good I can finally sing, and now I’m celebrating that.”
She came to hip-hop later than most of her classmates, but when she did, dove in headfirst.
She also took up flute and joined the marching band.
The instrument has since become a vital (and viral) part of the Lizzo experience.
“I was like, ‘F it,'” she remembers.
At 20 she lost her father and sank into a deep depression.
“It was the worst year of my life.
I was emotional, I was lonely, I was grieving,” she remembers.
“[Music] was all I could do to just focus on picking up the fing pieces.”
To regroup, she moved to Minneapolis and found a new, welcoming fellowship of artists and collaborators.
Her fan base exploded in the process.
“I remember him telling me, ‘You that big bitch that say whatever she want to say.
You gotta be like a hood-ass Aretha,'” she recalls, laughing.
“I was like, damn, because I couldn’t see that in myself.
But he could see that in me.”
“If I was 19 right now, I would be fing terrified,” she says.
“But I’m older, I’m wiser, I’m feeling like I’m getting actualized.
I want people to be happier.
